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Side-By-Side Review

The Merit 710T, Merit 720T and Merit 730T treadmills are all made by Horizon Fitness and occupies the lowest end of the budget home treadmill price spectrum. To give you an idea of the size of the company that manufactures these treadmills, in 2005, they’ve sold over $250 million worth of fitness equipment worldwide. In other words, the Merit treadmills that you’re looking at are not manufactured by a fly-by-night company.

The Merit 710T treadmill and the 720T treadmill are powered by a 1.25 horsepower continuous duty motor whereas the 730T treadmill comes with a slightly more powerful 1.55 horsepower motor. All three treadmills allow you to go all the way up to 10 miles per hour but with such underpowered motors, it’s best that you don’t go that fast or you might be shortening your treadmill’s lifespan prematurely.

The weight capacities of these Merit treadmills are around 250 pounds which is on the lower end of the market. You have to remember that these treadmills are for those buyers who are on a tight budget so you certainly can’t expect something that’s of gym quality and yet sells for $500.

There are a total of four preset programs each on the Merit 710T and 720T but the 730T is slightly better with 6 total programs. You can select your program using the computer console which also displays information such as your time, speed, and incline.

The Merit 710T treadmill comes with a mighty short and skinny deck measuring at 16” X 45”. Running or jogging is highly not recommended unless you want to fall off the machine.

The Merit 720T treadmill is slightly better with an 18”X50” belt but it’s still a size more suited for walking than running. Finally, the most expensive one of the three, the Merit 730T treadmill features an acceptable 18”X52” treadbelt.

Only the frame of these machines is warranted decently. The motor, parts and labor warranty are very short.